This Killing Eve article contains major spoilers for Season 1 and minor spoilers for Season 2.
Killing Eve is, unsurprisingly, a TV show with a particularly high kill count. However, if a TV character is lucky (and a story is well told), dead characters will continue to affecting the plot from well beyond the grave. One such character in Killing Eveis the late Nadia, Villanelle’s ex/former coworker/former cellmate, who continues to play an important role in Season 2.
When her note appeared in the Season 1 finale we, knew she wasn’t going gently into that good night. It was one of the major lingering plot threads heading into Season 2, which is why it was unsurprising to hear Nadia’s name come up in the Season 2 premiere. So who is Nadia and what might she have in store for her ex and her new plaything?
Who is Nadia?
Like Villanelle, Nadia worked for the mysterious crime organization The Twelve as a hired killer. Sometime before Killing Eve started, Nadia and Villanelle had some kind of a sexual relationship. Knowing what we do about Villanelle, it’s doubtful romance was involved.
read more: Everything to Know About Killing Eve Season 3
So far, it seems like Anna, Villanelle’s former language teacher and object of obsession, is the only person other than Eve for whom she’s had real feelings (if you can call them that). That being said, Villanelle and Nadia were at least close enough that Villanelle told Nadia her “real” name (Oksana) and about Anna.
What happens to Nadia in Season 1?
Cut to the fourth episode of season one, “Sorry Baby.” Villanelle goes to the English countryside for her sole multi-person job, which turns out to be typing up a loose end for the Twelve: killing Eve’s annoying boss Frank.
Also there to help? Nadia, and less-important fellow assassin Diego. The whole episode plays out with Villanelle’s usual coy mix of violence and affection (but mostly violence), ending in Villanelle killing Diego, tricking Nadia, and then backing over her with a car. Twice.
further reading: Killing Eve: A Spy Drama From the Female Gaze
Back in the “chic as shit” flat in Paris, Villanelle of course lies to Konstantin about what she’s done. He doesn’t believe her, which is why he warns her that Nadia is still alive and in Russia, where Villanelle should get to her – so to speak– before Nadia has the chance to correct Villanelle’s version of the events in the English countryside.
That brings Villanelle to a Russian prison. On purpose. While in the prison, Villanelle tries to get close to Nadia while Carolyn trades Frank’s pre-death intel for the chance to interview Nadia. Of course, creepy Konstantin is playing both sides up the middle.
This is when we definitively learn that, in addition to being Villanelle’s The Twelve handler, Konstantin is also Russian intelligence and an old friend of Carolyn’s. He pops in to Carolyn and Eve’s interrogation of Nadia at in order to intimidate Nadia into silence. He is quick enough to silence her about his own involvement, but not quick enough to silence her before she shares the identity of Anna: the language teacher who was Villanelle’s first obsession (Villanelle also castrated Anna’s husband).
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further reading: Killing Eve is the Perfect Show For Our Cultural Moment
Looking to silense Nadia once and for all, Villanelle attacks Nadia in the prison. During a brief respite in the attack, Nadia writes a note to Eve. We still don’t know what was inside the note, but, in Nadia’s final moments, knowing Villanelle was coming to kill her, it’s what Nadia chooses to do, so it must be pretty damn important.
In order to carry out the kill (and probably just to mess with her), Villanelle pretends, one last time, to be on Nadia’s side. She pretends they will escape together, embracing Nadia before hug-stabbing her. For her part, it seems unlikely Nadia believed her, considering she not only wrote the note in the first place, she made sure to slip it under the door amidst Villanelle’s theatrics.
Why does Nadia matter in Season 2?
In the Season 1 finale, Carolyn’s son and member of Eve’s team Kenny sees a prison guard picking up Nadia’s note via CCTV footage. In the Season 2 premiere, we learn that Carolyn knows about the note, when she tells Eve about its existence.
Why would Nadia have addressed the note to Eve? Did she somehow suspect that Carolyn couldn’t be trusted? And, if Carolyn can’t be trusted, how does the note and telling Eve about it play into her overall agenda? Did Nadia know about (or perhaps guess) Eve and Villanelle’s connection? So many questions for such a tiny note.
Need a more general Killing Eve refresher? Check out our recap of Season 1.
Delia Harrington a freelance writer and photographer focusing on social justice and pop culture through a feminist lens. She loves post-apocalyptic sci-fi, historical fiction, and feminist comic books. You can follow Delia @deliamary.
